Top 5 Product Hunt and Hacker News Apps and Tools

15 Apr 2015

If you’re a GT regular, you might know that I like to read up on technology. Especially new technology. The hottest new apps, a faster tool to get something done, problem-solving workflows, and more. One of the ways I do that is by reading Product Hunt and Hacker News (and sometimes Designer News).

If you’re not already regularly visiting these two sites, let me tell you why you should. On Product Hunt, users submit links to all kinds of new awesome products (apps, services, etc) they’ve hunted (found) on the internet. Others can then upvote them and then comment on them. I’ve found many awesome apps and services via Product Hunt.

Hacker News is similar, but it’s a bit more about the hacker culture. There’s a section called Show HN that’s similar to Product Hunt. But the main part of Hacker News is where users share links to the best tech-related stuff on the internet. A trip to Hacker News usually ends up with a couple of new additions to my Instapaper queue.

But they’re websites. They’re fine for browsing on the desktop but on iPhone or Android, I need something more. Like an app. A standalone or an aggregator. Well, lucky for you, we’ve got all sorts of apps for reading up on these two sites (and more). Let’s get to it.

1. Product Hunt for iPhone

If you own an iPhone, just download the official Product Hunt app. The version 2.0 update is even more awesome. It’s clean and animations are butter smooth.

The app now even allows you to view Collections and finally, there’s a search feature (plus the usual like, upvoting, and commenting). And if you’re just a lurker, you don’t even need to log in with Twitter. You are free to read everything, including the comments.

Product Hunt doesn’t have an iPad app (yet). For hunting from the bed, I suggest you try ProductPad.

2. TheNews for iPhone

If you’re deep into the tech culture, you like to visit every morning, what I call the trifecta – Product Hunt, Hacker News, and Designer News. In this case, TheNews is for you.

The app has a pane-based interface so you can swipe between sites. It has swipe gestures for articles in the list view as well – for upvoting and comments.

The app lets you log in to Hacker News and Designer News. You can upvote and post comments right from the app (and of course, search). Right now, the app doesn’t support the same for Product Hunt.

3. One for Android, iPhone, and Mac

One (Android, iPhone, Mac) is a news reader with an odd name. It wants to be your only news reader – as long as you’re talking about less than a dozen sites. One aggregates the top posts from sites like Product Hunt, Hacker News, Designer News, Reddit, Medium, Github, and even Lifehacker. It’s the perfect news reader for geeks.

One’s Android app is free and the Mac and iOS apps are a dollar each. I’ve tried all of them and I think One is the best news reader for Product Hunt and Hacker News (because there are no official apps for Android).

If you’re on Android, just download One and be done with it.

On iOS, I personally think The News has an edge but I might change my mind after I spend more time with the app.

One first came out with a Mac app (I found out about it on Product Hunt, go figure) and I instantly downloaded it. It’s a little Menu bar utility. Just click it and you’ll see a dropdown with the top posts from the sites you’ve selected.

On a Mac, One is one of the only apps that does this. Totally recommended.

4. Hacker News Clients for iOS and Android

If you’re on iOS, I don’t think there’s a point in downloading a special Hacker News client. TheNews does HN great. But One for Android is only a news reader. You can’t upvote or comment. For standalone Hacker News apps for Android and iOS, check out the links below.

5. Product Hunt and Hacker News Aggregators for Web

Why not just go to the site directly? You certainly can but if you’re looking for aggregators, you’ll find websites and even Chrome extensions with new tab replacements. Yup. The next big thing in tech is just a new tab away.

Panda’s Chrome extension is compelling. You can have three news panes side by side (or add design panes). Panda also lets you bookmark links inside the app. If you don’t want to have Panda as a new tab you can go to their website and get the same basic experience.